The Art of Demopraxy
Moving from party ideology to the practice of democracy through the demopractic method.
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The Art of Demopraxy is a device for activating the potential of active participation by the inhabitants of a territory in its sustainable and fair prosperity.
It develops according to a framework defined in the Manifesto of the Art of Demopraxy, reiterated in over 12 locations worldwide, continuing for several years, with 26 editions completed to date.
It is based on the direct activation of each of the 50/100 participating organizations, based on their vocation and their commitment within the specific context in which they operate.
The democratic work designs and develops the general political and civic framework in which individual organizations and their initiatives find composition and integration. This framework, expressed by the system of Demopraxy, represents the closest expression to the ideal dream of democracy.
"This post-ideological age of ours arises from the realization that the system of people’s representation through political parties has not fulfilled the promise of complete democracy. The word democracy is composed of the terms demos (people) and kratos (government, power), meaning power of the people. But the people are made up of many individuals who, separated from each other, cannot exercise power. How can individuals unite so that the people exercise power, overcoming political parties? Through the Art of Demopraxy, where the term praxis (practice) replaces the term kratos, power. How can we move from party ideology to the practice of democracy?
It is time to fully recognize that people are already united within the organizations that make up society itself: associations, foundations, businesses, public and private entities, profit and non-profit, consortia, committees, clubs, workgroups, and any other form of organized collaboration. In these organizations, people spend hours, days, and years, and every day they make choices, take decisions that concretely impact their lives as workers, entrepreneurs, suppliers, customers, members, and family members. Each organization is already, in itself, a micro-government or a micro-parliament, distributed within the social fabric. The practices carried out within these organizations in fact exercise power.
The task of Demopraxy is to make these organizations visible and aware, and to connect their practices to form systems of governance truly participated in by the whole society. The method Cittadellarte is experimenting with allows for an active participation of organizations that, if extended to society at large, makes the governance of the people feasible."
1 The term and concept were first presented in The Art of Demopraxy, P. Naldini, Giornale di Cittadellarte, Biella, October 2012.
The Demopratic Method
The United Nations have synthesized global emergencies related to sustainable development into 17 key points, through a consultation process involving 193 member countries and international civil society "actors." Seventeen goals to be achieved by 2030. The method initiated by Cittadellarte refers to these as its primary framework, which is useful for defining the main areas of action, in connection with territorial needs.
The demopratic method is structured in a 3-phase operational process: Mapping, Forum, and Workshop.
The coordination of this process is carried out by the Rebirth/Terzo Paradiso Embassies (hereinafter referred to as Embassies), independent entities that form an international network connected to the Pistoletto Foundation Cittadellarte.
Mapping
The Mapping phase aims to identify organizations committed to the goals of sustainability outlined by the United Nations 2030 Agenda, active in the territory and interested in participating in the Forum. The identification process takes place both through direct calls from the Embassies and through the dissemination of the participation call, published online and in the press.
The Embassy organizes a public exhibition where organizations introduce themselves through interviews, videos, photographs, texts, and illustrative and descriptive materials. The exhibition serves as a platform for organizations to get to know each other, allowing each organization to reflect on itself in relation to the others.
Organizations are asked to present the most urgent and relevant issues to be addressed in the FORUM within the exhibition. Based on these inputs, it will be the Embassy’s task to define the Essential Themes to structure the Forum around.
Forum
Each mapped organization registers for the forum, formally assigning a member to participate. Each Forum hosts up to 100 participants, divided into working groups of 8-10 people, coordinated by facilitators trained by the Embassies. These working groups alternate with plenary sessions. The working groups consist of members from the participating organizations. Additionally, delegates from trade associations, professional orders, scientific research centers, and educational institutions (both schools and universities) are invited to participate. Representatives from local, regional, national, and international public institutions are also invited.
Taking into account the proposals that emerged from the mapping phase, the Embassy suggests a discussion theme in the form of a question. Each working group collects the reflections, experiences, and proposals of the participants. The results are presented in the plenary session for collective discussion. In this context, a common action plan is outlined, which will be developed by the participants over the next twelve months in an activity called "Cantiere”, until the following Forum, where the results will be reviewed, and the action plans updated.
On the third day, the Forum takes place in a public session where the results from the previous two days and the Action Plan are presented.
Cantiere
Cantiere is an active extension of the Forum. It lasts for 12 months, between one Forum and the next. Each participant in the Forum presents the Action Plan to their organization, where the proposals are received, discussed, modified, and further explored. Proposals and initiatives from organizations with similar activities or nature are gathered in sector-specific meetings. These meetings prepare for the realization of intermediate Forums, called Sector Forums, which aim to develop sector-specific Action Plans.
These plans are then reviewed by academic research institutions. The role of the university is to collect all the feedback from the sector organizations and incorporate it into its own framework. This aims to develop the proposals from the Forums and Workshops, with the contribution of the most advanced expertise in the specific fields of economics, politics, science, technology, the environment, and all other areas that make up the social fabric.
The constant presence of both private and public institutions in the Annual Forums and Intermediate Forums, such as trade associations, schools, universities, and public entities at all levels, allows the democratic method to be integrated into institutional politics. While the private and public systems have traditionally been considered separate and, in many cases, antagonistic phenomena, with the development of the Forums and Democratic Workshops, the individual organizations that make up the social fabric—some of which are private and others public—assume a public role with social and political significance.
Through the democratic method, private organizations also participate in the governance of the res publica, and in this way, every individual is included in this participation. With the art of demopraxia, the democratic ideal is thus realized.
The organization of the Democratic Method entails real costs, which, based on the capacity for contribution, are supported by a participation fee for each registered participant, managed with full transparency by the Embassy.
Biella, October 10, 2018
For Cittadellarte,
Michelangelo Pistoletto and Paolo Naldini
